One brother is fire. The other ice. I can’t decide which one is going to burn me first.
After many years in the Foster care system, Aurora “Rory” Bradshaw arrives to a small town called Bardstown. Her goal is simple: turn eighteen, finish high school, get a job and adopt her Foster brother, Loonie. She didn’t trust anyone because everybody had disappointed her. What she didn’t expected was that her new foster parents are loving and caring. Also, she’ll meet her new neighbors, the Jordan brothers, Crew and Trice. Both guys appeal to Rory in different ways. Crew is the town’s bad boy; Trice is the golden one. Which brother will Rory choose?
As a foster kid, Rory had been through a lot. She has seen and experienced things no child should. Hence her perennial distrust; everything and everyone have failed her so much that she has covered her heart with an impenetrable shell… until now. She founds herself in unknown territory when she finally has the chance to be a “normal” girl, but her survival instincts keeps her heart guarded. She’s not used to kindness, after all. Even though she’s a tough girl, Rory has a big heart. Her strength and resilience makes her unique.
“How have you survived this long without letting anyone in?”
His question is loaded. It catches me off guard. “It’s easy. The only person I rely on is myself.”
“Can you make an exception?”
I smooth my hair, my voice resigned. “Give me a reason to.”
Crew is the guy everybody avoids when he’s in town. For everyone, he’s a lost cause. Yet nobody really knows him. He’s more than he appears; Crew has a sensibility no one expects. Trice, on the other hand, is the guy all the mothers want for their daughters. The quarterback of his school’s team. Both are different on the surface—specially because they deal with their emotional issues in opposite ways—but deep inside they’re pretty alike. They’re damaged and broken. Their demons constantly torment Crew and Trice. However, their wounded hearts are, curiously, their biggest asset. Past tragic events has made the brothers rivals, and Rory’s arrival will widen the gap between them. Both brothers are competitive, they’ll do whatever it takes to win Rory’s heart.
This book has a ton of interesting secondary characters. Rory’s new foster parents, Bea and Russell, gradually enter Rory’s heart through love, respect, patience and caring. At the same time, Loonie shows a contrasting innocence in a corrupted foster care system. Other characters, like Della and Andrea brings the casual aspect in the book.
My first experience reading one of Ms. Stayton’s books was a great one. This author is a natural storyteller. The story is well written and developed, with some compelling twists that makes the reading more alluring. Of course, I found the story a bit predictable in a specific moment of the plot, but the emotional weight the characters have to deal balances that little flaw. Something that needs to be mentioned is the sensitive way the author explores the Foster care system and its failures; the researching work about this topic was exquisite.
Beauty in Chaos, with its ups and downs and everything in between, is a soulful and heartwarming story that won’t leave you indifferent. You won’t be able to put the book aside once you start to read it. Kudos to Ms. Stayton for creating such an exciting story about redemption and second chances.
ARC given by Nacole Stayton via The Next Step PR. Thanks for your trust.
About the Book
Release Date: July 20, 2023
ASIN: B0C44NZQND
Published By: Nacole Stayton Publishing, LLC.
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
eBook, 340 pages
#1 Best Seller in Teen & Young Adult Values & Virtues
#1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Dating & Intimacy
From Amazon Top 100 Bestselling Author Nacole Stayton of The Upside of Letting Go, comes an exquisite story about three hearts bound by love, lies, and deep-rooted betrayal.
Aurora Bradshaw survived by her intuition. Bouncing from one foster home to another throughout her adolescence left her with deep-rooted trust issues. Enduring rough living conditions became second nature. With her shield of sarcasm and a tenacity of amour, Rory’s gut had never failed her. That was until she landed in a small town with a passion for bourbon, horse-racing, and the Jordan brothers.
The walls of her new foster home were abundant but brimmed with secrets of their own. She knew bidding her time until her eighteenth birthday wouldn’t be easy. Until she found a semblance of solace in her new neighbors, Trice and Crew Jordan.
When a jarring family secret emerges, Rory is in the middle of an impasse. The most paramount decision she’s ever been faced with was choosing between two boys. Each claiming a little bit of her heart for unique reasons. Amidst the chaos that surrounded her, she found beauty in the boisterous laughter one brought and the myriad of feelings the other made her feel.
Every decision she’d ever had to make had come with a price, but love has no boundaries. With nothing but misfortune plaguing her past, Rory has nothing to lose.
Except one of them.
About the Author
Nacole Stayton is thirty-something years young and resides in the Bourbon Capital of the World with her husband and son. Her debut novel, The Upside of Letting Go is an Amazon top 100 bestseller. She spends her days working in healthcare as a practice administrator and her evenings pinning away on her next novel. She can usually be found playing with monster trucks and dodging Nerf gun darts or enjoying an iced coffee poolside.
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